I offer private and group art classes in oil painting. Please contact me for details.
List of material:
** Note: If you already own any paint/brush/panel/easel, you can bring it with you. The following supplies are only recommendations based on my years of trial and error. Feel free to choose your own brand if you like. That being said, supplies do affect the quality of your work. A student grade panel will be very frustrating to work with and will not produce good results. Student grade paint will not have enough pigment so you will use a lot more. Cheap brushes will fall apart after 2-3 uses. My advice: buy the best you can afford. It’s an investment in yourself and your passion!
Paints:
Brands:
We want to choose high quality paints, not student grade. They will last for quite a while, so purchase the best you can afford. My preferred brands are: Rembrandt, M. Graham, M. Harding, Gamblin. Blick’s carries all these brands in the store. These paints require solvent for clean up and thinning. If you are allergic to solvent, I recommend Cobra water soluble oil paints, but you have to order these on-line from Blick’s or Jerry’s. They don’t carry Cobra in the store. The advantage of Cobra is that you can use water as medium or for clean-up.
Colors:
For economic option, you can purchase a introductory set from one of these brands and gradually add paints of your choice.
Gamblin intro set:
We want warm and cool of each primary (Y,R,B). We also want to work with as few paints as possible and use color theory to build from existing primary colors. This is called a limited palette and creates much better color harmony. For yellows and red you have the option to go Cadmium free or Cadmium colors.
Yellows:
Cadmium free option: Permanent Yellow light, Permanent yellow medium, Yellow ochre, Naples yellow deep
Cadmium option: Cad yellow light, cad yellow medium, Same yellow ochre, Naples yellow deep as above
Red:
Cadmium free option: Quinacridone Rose or Alizarin Crimson, Any light red (optional, I like M Graham Azo coral for light red), Any medium red
Cad option: Cad red light, cad red medium, same Quinacridone Rose, or Alizarin Crimson
Blue:
Ultramarine Blue, Cobalt Blue, Sky blue (optional)
White:
Titanium white
Other colors:
Ivory black, Viridian green, Transparent red oxide
**Note : Cadmium based colors are very intense and rich in terms of pigment and chroma. A little goes a very long way. They are more expensive however. The same effect can be accomplished with non-cad paints but requires the use of more paint. It’s your choice if you like to use cadmium-based colors. If you decide to buy the cad option, you need to protect your skin from direct contact. I recommend wearing gloves for plein air b/c paint will find its way on your hands and face eventually and washing your hands outdoors is not always possible.
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Solvent:
Gamsol. For cleaning brushes and thinning paint.
Medium:
Few options are: Gamblin solvent free gel (my fav), or 2 parts gamsol,1 part seed oil (walnut, linseed), or Windsor and Newton artist medium
Container tin can for carrying solvent: Can be purchased from Blicks or Amazon:
Here is the one I use from Amazon:
MyLifeUNIT Paint Brush Cleaner, Stainless Steel Brush Holder for Painting,
Paper towels: Any brand would do
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Brushes:
I have tried many many many brushes. The best ones I have found are:
Readily available: Princeton Aspen Series 6500 Synthetic Brushes.
Blick’s link:
https://www.dickblick.com/prod...
Size: Bright 2,4,6
https://www.dickblick.com/prod...
Long flat: size 2,4
https://www.dickblick.com/prod...
*Note: These brushes are available at Blick’s store but some sizes may be out of stock. Amazon or Jerry’s also carry them for the same price.
For long term use, I also highly recommend Rosemary brushes Ivory series (Flat and flat long 2,3,4,5,6), but they are in England and you have to have the brushes shipped (not expensive, $10-15 for shipping).
https://www.rosemaryandco.com/oil-brushes/ivory-oils/ivory-short-flat-en-plein-air
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Panels: Centurion Deluxe Professional Oil Primed Linen Canvas Panels
Link: https://a.co/d/i7mx9oq
Size: I recommend 11x14 and smaller so it can be finished in one to two sessions. They usually come in a pack of 3 or 6.
If you prefer smooth surfaces to paint on:
Ampersand Art Supply Gesso Wood Painting Panel
Available at Blicks store Pasadena or
Amazon : https://a.co/d/7EgYjnE
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Easel and tripod:
A few scenarios here:
- If you are on a tight budget, buy anything you can set up outside. French easels do the job on a budget. You can ask the people at Blick’s for recommendations or search Amazon for the ones you like. You could also buy a paint box (plein air easel) and tripod separately, but the paint box needs to be made for plein air use and have the attachment for tripods.
- Example of French easel:
- U.S. Art Supply Large Beechwood French Easel
- https://a.co/d/0ruYmvq
- If you have the budget and would like something to last a very long time, there are quite a few options. You can buy a pochade box and a tripod. This local company is in Orange County and sells professional quality boxes and tripods. Great customer service as well.
- Artwork Essentials:
- https://artworkessentials.com/pochades.html
- Good quality plein air easels:
- New Wave u.go Plein Air https://a.co/d/iLuYFrU
*Note: If you can’t find one within your budget, let me know and we can figure out an alternative.
Optional:
SoHo Urban Artist UV Sunscreen Umbrella for painting in the sun when there is no shade
Other than the painting panels, most of the supplies are one time purchase and you will have them for a very long time. Over time you will develop your own preferences for color selection, panels, brushes, etc. This is a starting point and we will build from here.